White-banded Tyrannulet (Mecocerculus stictopterus)

Identification & Behavior: ~12.5 cm (5 in). The White-banded Tyrannulet has an olive-green mantle. The crown is gray bordered by a white superciliary. The bill is black. The wing coverts are black with two broad white wing bars. The underparts are whitish.  The tail is gray. It forages in the canopy of humid montane forests often in the company of mixed species flocks. It is similar to the closely related White-tailed Tyrannulet but is distinguished by larger size, gray tail, white wing bars, and by ranging at higher elevations.

Status: The White-banded Tyrannulet is common in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes. It also occurs on the humid west slope of the Andes in part of the Marañon Valley, Piura, and Cajamarca, and also in the Cordillera Blanca in Ancash generally at elevations ranging between 2400-3600 m. The White-banded Tyrannulet also occurs in Co, Ec, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Tiranillo de Ala Bandeada.

Sub-species: White-banded Tyrannulet (Mecocerculus stictopterus stictopterus), (P. L. Sclater), 1859.  Andes of Colombia, Ecuador (both slopes) and N Peru (Piura, Cajamarca, Amazonas).
(Mecocerculus stictopterus taeniopterus), Cabanis, 1874.  E Andes of Peru (S from E La Libertad) S to N Bolivia (La Paz, Cochabamba).

Meaning of Name: Mecocerculus: Gr. mekos= length and kerkos= tail. stictopterus: Gr. stiktos= spotted and stizo= to tattoo and pteros= winged.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae